GUEST POST BY CATIE HUMPHREYS: Producing by Inspiration

Please welcome Catie to the blog today! Catie is a New York actress and producer who’s currently fundraising to bring several projects to fruition, including a film about running the NYC Marathon (boy, do we have a lot in common!).

Producing by Inspiration

As a first-time producer, I often find myself overwhelmed at just how much the role entails. How do we make everything happen? How do we get people involved in the project? And, HOW DO WE FIND THE MONEY TO DO ALL OF THIS?! Now, looking back at all of the projects I’ve been involved with as a performer, I’m able to appreciate just how much work was put into it by the production team. Because, let’s be serious, they do. it. all. That being said, I’m having a ton of fun seeing so many obstacles come up, acknowledging them and then utilizing them as my way of obtaining what is needed for the project. I’m constantly looking for the ways to reposition that which is difficult and the seemingly impossible, as the stepping stones to achieve what is next.

For example: fundraising. The obstacle of fundraising, for us (Goldfish Memory Productions), was HUGE. We are a brand-new production company, formed two months ago with 2 projects already on the books. We needed money STAT. Instead of viewing the obstacle of money as real, we decided to use a fundraising campaign as the vehicle to go beyond making money. We used it as a jumping off point, both to introduce the company and market ourselves. The intention was set to get people involved and more importantly than that, INSPIRED. Instead of what I considered to be one-dimentional fundraising, i.e. raising money for us as a company and then distributing accordingly to each project, we decided it would be interesting to introduce each project as it’s own entity within the larger campaign. In this, it allowed the opportunity for people to support the beginning of our company as well as to develop a knowledge of each project and give based on their own, individual, connection to any and all projects on the table. Beyond that, it bolstered the foundation for each project and guarantees an interested audience for the shows!

For our first fundraising campaign, we have enlisted the help of a Kickstarter. We’ve given ourselves 21 days to raise $12,000 dollars. If we don’t make all of that money in 21 days, we get NOTHING. Needless to say, that can add stress to an already high stake situation. However, it has been the greatest gift for us as producers. While the timeline and the make or break rules of Kickstarter can lead you to feel as though your head might explode, it also forces you as the producer, to constantly re-focus, take a breath and go back to the basics. You ask yourself, “What are we producing and WHY are we producing it? Why do people need to see this show? How will it give them more life, how will these projects change the culture of art for the better?” It is my belief that you can only produce from inspiration. Everything else comes out of desperation. Desperation, like any stinky cologne, is palpable in more than one way- it can be smelled, tasted and overwhelming to the senses, AKA a big time turn off. When we aren’t in tune with what is inspiring us, how can we expect ourselves to inspire others to join? The answer is, we can’t. We can’t because in that space, we are operating out of need. Truthfully, who wants to be a part of a project in which someone is begging you to do so? Wouldn’t you rather have your team and your audience walk into the room with you because they WANT to be there? Because they refuse to be anywhere else but in front of you, helping and creating with you? YES!

And yet, even with all of the confidence and knowledge this process has brought to me as a young producer, the fact remains that our Kickstarter ends on Tuesday! AHHH! Currently, we are in the last leg of the campaign that is devoted to fundraising for our project Marathon. Our first two projects are theatrical in nature (running dates and locations are released, check out our Facebook below if you’d like to be involved!) and with our third, we are diving into the world of film. Marathon will be a film project based on my surprising, crazy, beautiful intention of running the NYC Marathon this November. A marathon is 26 MILES. And if we’re being honest, I want.that.bumper sticker. Ok, ok, truthfully why did I sign up? I signed up because it is time to prove to myself that I can do something extraordinary. That I, Catie Humphries, am worth it. Moreover, that my life, my time and my efforts are so much greater than “average” endeavors. The story will be a comedic exploration into a girl’s journey of running a marathon. She signs up for it with the intention of it being a cool story- something to brag about amidst the mundane day-to-day of her seemingly boring life. But, along the way, her entire life shifts and she begins to see her life as something other than ordinary, she sees her life of something worth living, fully, until it’s end! We’ve got romance, comedy, new music, everything. We will start filming the day of my actual marathon, November 2nd and then continue from there on into most of next year!

Feel free to email/contact me with any questions or comments you have. I love to meet a new face and make a new friend!

-Catie

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Thank you so much for sharing your producing insight, Catie! We wish you the best of luck with the final two days of your campaign. Please click here to learn more about Catie’s upcoming projects and to help them reach their fundraising goal!